All quotes

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist

Society we must have; but let it be society, and not exchanging news, or eating from the same dish.

A species of thick clothing slowly grows about the mind, the pores are choked, little habits become a part of existence, and by degrees the mind is inclosed in a husk.

The American dream does not come to those who fall asleep.

Above all, he must guard and you must guard him against indolence. Make him a strenuous man. I had to force myself into being strenuous as you know--had always an inclination to be idle.

Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, kirk or market, is a symptom of deficient vitality

The length of man's life, which is endless to the brave and busy, is scorned by his ambitious thought.

Now, to be properly enjoyed, a walking tour should be gone upon alone.

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.

A man's life is to be measured by what he does in it, and what he feels in it.

Work is the law of our being--the living principle that carries men and nations onward.

Time should not be allowed to pass without yielding fruits, in the form of something learnt worthy of being known, some good principle cultivated, or some good habit strengthened.

Great men, I say, often rejoice at crosses of fortune just as brave soldiers do at wars.

There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet every body fools us out of it that has a mind to it.

The great crisis must come, or no man has the chance to develop great qualities.

A mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world.

In this life we get nothing save by effort.

Alas, we have known Times call loudly enough for their great man; but not find him when they called!

Our supreme task is the resumption of our onward, normal way.

If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do, just as one pleases.

Old companions are like meats served up too often, that lose their relish and their wholesomeness.

When this corrupting passion once takes possession of the human mind, like the love of gold it becomes insatiable.

Ideal aspirations are not enough, when uncombined with pluck and will.